Commercial photographer Susan Anderson crosses over to a fine-art career with her striking portraits from child beauty pageants.
Shooting “tarted-up tots” with elaborate couture costumes, hair, and make up, Anderson explores the “high glitz” realm of child pageantry. Through her photos, she captures the reality-show dreams of the American families that invest endless hours and money in their quest for top honors on the surreal side of pop culture.
Visit the High Glitz website, check out Anderson’s commercial work, catch her solo show in LA, read her article about Hollywood glamour, buy the High Glitz book
Christy – Age 8 – Las Vegas, Nevada – 2006 from HIGH GLITZ by Susan Anderson, published by powerHouse Books
Allison – Age 10 – Nashville, Tennessee – 2008 from HIGH GLITZ by Susan Anderson, published by powerHouse Books
Ashley – Age 8 – Nashville, Tennessee – 2008 from HIGH GLITZ by Susan Anderson, published by powerHouse Books
Ashley – Age 8 – Nashville, Tennessee – 2008 from HIGH GLITZ by Susan Anderson, published by powerHouse Books
Jacklyn – Age 7 – Las Vegas, Nevada – 2006 from HIGH GLITZ by Susan Anderson, published by powerHouse Books
Sara – Age 5 – Las Vegas, Nevada – 2006 from HIGH GLITZ by Susan Anderson, published by powerHouse Books
Katy – Age 5 – Las Vegas, Nevada – 2006 from HIGH GLITZ by Susan Anderson, published by powerHouse Books
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11 Responses
Good photographer. But so sad that anyone would encourage their daughters to be i n these pageants. Very sick
Isn't the fine art photographer here cashing in on this damaging objectification of children as much as the pageant parents and organizers?
i literally gasped as i looked at the pictures
Excuse me ymm, but the purpose of Art is to get YOU to look at the situation. The fact that you're asking means the artist has suceeded.
Before you throw stones true beleiver, remember that creative people ride the zeitgeist; for a bunch of people to be exploring the same avenues at once is the norm, not the rip off. And frankly, the more publicity this pageant business gets, the better! The documentaries are the truly enlightening format, we see all the three hundred pound pageant mothers tensing up and going crazy!
OK, I looked at Gretchen Ryans' work and can't see a bit of similarity beyond possible subject matter. The paintings are of unhappy children in minimal make up; The photographic portraits are of coy little tarts with all the razzle dazzle turned on. Frankly, Ms Ryan misses the point. Wonderful painter, but these children are too young to be unhappy with what Momma tells them yet- The painter puts words on their faces. The camera can't make that lie though, or perhaps the glamour shot is the ultimate method of exposing what goes on with a pageant…
Little Miss Sunshine has a lot to answer for!
Eventhorizon, you clearly haven't seen the various soft 'documentaries' that have been done on pageant children, the worst but most recent being TLC's "Toddlers and Tiaras". It's quite clear that many of the children on these shows are being manipulated into being cantering show ponies for their parents, some of whom pour thousands of dollars into the endeavor, and fewer who turn a profit on their pageant princesses."Coy little tarts"? Humbert Humbert, these girls are too young to be either "coy" or "tarts", and you've hit on why precisely this racket becomes dangerous: these young girls, parading in all the tropes of fully (over)developed womanhood, are mistaken by people like yourself, who confuse the grown-up props with grown-up feelings and agency that are entirely non-existent.
The pictures in this article are apparently blocked by my company's IT department, so I had to go to the photographer's website to see the pictures. I immediately regretted that decision.
Oh, my. It's gonna be difficult keeping these little madams off the pole…
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I can’t say I was shocked, but I was hit with the usual mix of emotions: violation, anger, dread, worry, pity and fear. Why aren’t children allowed to be children anymore? It’s not an idle question — it is during childhood that we explore the world, seeking those things that make our hearts sing and having found them, are given the gift of time to make lifelong connections to them. Did you love to make mudpies? Perhaps you’re now a potter or a chef. Were you a daredevil on your first two-wheeler? Perhaps you have become an athlete or physicist. Was one of your first toys a typewriter? Maybe you’re a journaist or a poet.
But these kids and so many others are being robbed of this critical developmental leap. They are not much more than a reflection of their masters/mistresses’ warped version of “success”. They are empty on the inside having been made to believe that it’s only what’s on the outside that matters.
I try to walk through this world on the path of “to each his own”, but these kids are walking a path not of their own making and the adults responsible (including the “artist” whose current livelihood depends upon this perversion of childhood) are in it to meet their own skewed needs. To them, I say, shame on you to take the life of a child.